A Queen's Touch
by Nivloc
Summary: Reigna Calavon is forced to leave the only home that she knew with little to nothing. She quickly adapts to the Wasteland's harsh reality, but her experiences change her before she can stop them. The morbid pleasure she gets from her victims depends on the day, but he knows that better than anyone.
1. Leaving the Homefront

Hi! I hope you enjoy my take on the Fallout 3 world and the Lone Wanderer (F). I don't own anything except Reigna Calavon. I don't speak French fluently. I've been studying it for two years, so if I make a mistake I apologize and hope you will point it out so that I can correct it. Happy reading!

 *****Nivloc**

Normal text = present

 _Italics = past_

* * *

While growing up, I used to complain to my dad about a lot of things. I didn't keep any secrets from my dad. I told him about my every thought. I thought he did the same with me.

"The worse it gets, the better the story, mon ange," he'd tell me when I had really bad days. I never really got it, but after today, I understand what he meant. I guess I never really had a bad day until today.

 _I was woken up by Amata… she used to be my best friend. She told me that the Overseer had ordered Jonas to be killed after my own father had left the vault. I didn't really believe her at first, but she doesn't give me time to call her out on her terrible lie. She simply pushed a pistol into my hands and begs me to only use it if I need to. I silently agreed and watched her run out of my living quarters. I shut my bedroom door once she was gone. I looked down at the gun and turned it over in my hand to inspect it. It felt real enough to not be a dream, so I set it down on my desk and get dressed. I packed my backpack with some essentials, I grab my baseball bat and eyed the pistol. Eventually, I decided to throw it into my backpack with the safety on and headed for the corridor. I made eye contact with a security officer. He pointed at me accusingly._

" _Hey! Stop, Reigna!" He shouted before getting attacked by three radroaches. I was used to seeing radroaches, but never so many at one time in the living quarters. They made short work of the officer who manages to kill one of them and injure another. They turned towards me, and I forced myself to move. I brought my bat down upon the fastest one's head and kicked the other away from me. I quickly lifted my bat and swung as hard as I could at it. The force of my swing caused it to fly into the wall. It made a high pitched noise on impact but then dropped dead unceremoniously. I stepped around the dead officer and almost make it out of the living quarters when I'm stopped by a hand on my arm. I turned to push the person away but find myself looking into the bright blue eyes of Butch DeLoria._

" _You gotta help me," he said panicking. His grip on my arm tightened if that were even possible. I grabbed his wrist with my hand and tried to yank him off of me, but I am much weaker than him. He knows it. I know it. His brows were drawn together in frustration and worry. I sighed._

" _I'm trying to get out of here, Butch. Dis-moi, vite," I stated blankly. Although, my shifty eyes and sweaty hand probably told him of how nervous I was he pulled me along to his living quarters and stopped in front of the door into the bedroom. I gave him a sideways glance, but then I heard the telltale sounds of radroaches attacking someone._

" _Please, just save my mom. Je ne veux pas t'empêcher, Riri. Je te jure. Just… help me out… help her out," he begged. I craned my neck to look up at his worried face. I decided that begging doesn't suit the guy that was usually too cocky for his own good. I gave him a curt nod._

" _D'accord," I agreed. Butch flipped the switch to open the door. Once I'm inside the room… he closes it. Mrs. DeLoria was in a fetal position on the floor by her bed. Chunks of her arms were missing where the radroaches had bitten her. She was screaming in pain and fear, and the sight was enough to make me cringe. I kicked the closest one away and smashed the head of another. The third one didn't seem to care that its kindred were now dead and took another bite out of Mrs. Deloria's arm. She screamed again and then goes silent. I kicked the radroach away and smashed the head of another that was approaching me. The sound of them dying gave me a feral feeling of satisfaction. The adrenaline rushed through my veins and with my newfound strength I smashed the remaining radroach several times in the body. It shrieked a few times before going silent, but I continued to hit it. It's guts splattered out of its sides, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I didn't hear the bedroom door open. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to attack its owner, but somehow I found reason before I smashed Butch's handsome face in. He gave me a weak smile, but I saw the worry in his eyes. I turned and looked down at his mom. The steady rise and fall of her chest told us that she wasn't dead._

" _We should get her to the clinic," I managed to whisper. I didn't see Butch nod his head, but he moved around me to pick her up bridal style. The clinic was on my way out of the living quarters, so I walked with him. Andy was outside of the clinic mowing down a swarm of radroaches who were failing to touch the hovering robot. We stood back and let Andy finish them off before approaching him._

" _Ah! Miss Calavon, good to see you. It appears that your father stepped out for some fresh air. He should be back any minute now," he remarked casually as if everyone occasionally left the vault for some "fresh air." I ignored the comment and head into the clinic with Butch right behind me._

" _Andy, I need you to help me heal Mrs. DeLoria. She's lost a lot of skin and blood," I stated plainly. Butch set his mother down on a gurney and stepped back. Andy immediately approached her and started to administer the proper doses of medication. Stanley Armstrong exited my father's office, but didn't try to stop me or Andy. He simply sat in the same chair I usually found him in when my father examined him. Butch just stood there, out of the way, but frozen in place. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye while wrapping a bandage around the last flesh wound. Silent tears were running down his cheeks and dripping onto his leather jacket. I noticed the way his hands trembled at his sides. Butch had never cried in all the years that I've known him. At least not in front of me._

" _Ca va aller. She should wake up in a few hours. Andy will give her Med-X then. Ne t'inquiete pas, Butch," I spoke lowly. I placed a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him a little, but he didn't respond to the contact. I sighed and am about to remove my hand, but he grabbed it firmly._

" _Thank you. Merci, Riri," he whispered shakily. I nodded my head and let him hold onto my hand until he eventually let go. He unzipped his Tunnel Snake jacket and gently handed it to me._

" _I don't know how cold it gets out there. En tout cas, tiens," Butch whispered. His eyes never left his mother's body though. I took it from him and put it on wordlessly. I'm almost sure that the only reason I helped Butch was because his family was the only other one that spoke French besides my own. I guess I felt a sort of bond to him because of it. I reached up and ruffled his hair before exiting the clinic. No one said a word as I left. In the atrium, I heard Tom and Mary Holden talking about escaping the vault at any cost. I panicked and ran to find them._

" _Tom, wait!" Mary screamed. I sprint and grab onto his arm just before he got into the line of sight of the hallway with two guards. He turned his head to give me the dirtiest look I've ever seen._

" _Are you crazy?" I hissed at him. He didn't flinch away from my accusation. Instead, he moved closer until he's staring down his nose at me._

" _Let. Go. Riri," he whispered harshly. I glared at him. I refused to let go. He tugged, but I hold onto him tighter. Mary left her hiding spot and grabbed his arm as well. He didn't understand that he'd get himself killed like this.  
"Tom, please. Stop. Please, let's go back to our living quarters. It's not safe right now," she begged quietly. Tom was glaring at Mary now. I took advantage of his lack of attention on me and kicked the back of his knee. He grunts but kneels the way I had hoped. I pressed the butt of my bat against his back. _

" _That's a good idea, Tom. Go. Home," I stated angrily, "And, be happy that you can." He scoffed but nodded his head. He stood and took Mary's hand. I watched them make their way back the way I came. I waited until I heard the sound of the door open and close before moving. I quickly walked into the room next to the exit and grabbed anything useful. I found a few stimpacks, some food and water bottles. I shoved them all into my backpack and made my way to the hallway leading to the vault's entrance. I glanced around the corner and almost got shot in the face. Clearly, they weren't waiting to welcome my father back into the vault from his break for some "fresh air." I crouched a little and counted to three before sprinting past the hallway's opening. I manage to not get shot and quickly made my way up the stairs on the opposite side of the atrium. Someone had blocked the door from shutting with a locker._

" _Stop, Reigna!" I heard the two guards yell, but they didn't pursue me. I slid around the corner and pressed my back against the wall. I waited a few minutes until I was sure that they weren't following me. I didn't want to get shot in the back. I eventually pushed myself away from the wall and made my way to one of the maintenance rooms. Just before I could get to the door though, I heard a loud thud and turned towards the noise. Looking into the Mack's living quarters, I see Mr. Mack banging against the window and Mrs. Mack sitting at the dining table with her head cradled in her hands._

" _You! This is all your fault! You're stupid father had to go and leave, didn't he? Had to go and mess things up for everyone!" Mr. Mack yelled through the glass. I glare at him._

" _Ferme ta gueule! It's not my father's fault that the Overseer is a murderer!" I can't help but bang my own smaller fist against the glass. I knew that it's bullet proof, but I was so upset that I swung my bat into it anyway. Mr. Mack jumped back in fear until he realized I didn't even leave a mark._

" _You're the violent one! Crazy! I hope the Overseer finds you and makes an example of you!" He yelled at me. The look he gave me was worse than the one I had received from Tom. I hit the glass again and walked away. He yelled more insults to my back, but I ignored him. I flipped the switch that closes the door behind me, and I could no longer hear his voice. I heard the sound of radroaches moving around and readied my bat. I saw Floyd dead on the floor by his toolbox. I didn't have time to be sad though as a radroach came out of the shadows and tried to jump on me. I swung my bat and hit it midair. It slammed into the wall and died. I heard another one approach and prepared myself, but Chief Hannon came out from around the corner and smashed it before it can attack either of us. He was wielding a police baton and sporting a standard vault security uniform. I held my bat up as a shield._

" _I don't want to hurt you Chief Hannon! I just want to leave the vault and find my dad," I tried to reason with him, but he clicked his tongue in disgust._

" _You're not going anywhere, Reigna. The Overseer said to bring you to him dead or alive, and I'm not in the mood to cuff you," he spoke venomously. I dodged the first swing of his baton and block the second._

" _Please, I don't want to hurt you," I cried out. I duck under one of Chief Hannon's swings and pushed him in the stomach with my bat. It's not enough to hurt, but it got him away from me. He grunted in an effort to stop himself from falling over. I kept my bat in a defensive position._

" _Stop resisting, Reigna. It'll make things easier for both of us," he yelled at me. I quickly turned and opened the door to the atrium. I ran back into the space hoping that he'd calm down, but he didn't. I dodged a blow to the face by a few inches. I yelped and rolled near the banister. Chief Hannon charged me, but I sidestepped him once he was close enough. I quickly turned around and whispered a quick apology before hitting him hard in the head with my bat. The force of my hit sent him off balance until he stumbled backwards over the banister. The sound of his body hitting the metal ground was new to me and rather reassuring. I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding and turned to go back into the maintenance room. I looked straight into the eyes of Mr. Mack before I made it into the room. His mouth was hanging open and his usual bronze skin was paler. He didn't say anything as I passed him and closed the door behind me. I walked up to Floyd and closed his eyes out of respect. We had worked together a lot. He wasn't a bad guy._

" _Que les dieux te soient cléments, Floyd," I whispered. I left through the only other door in the room which was connected to a hallway that would lead me to the overseer's office. I took long, purposeful steps but stopped when I hear Amata's voice._

" _I'm telling you the truth. I don't know anything!" I heard Amata yell. I duck down and made my way to the window. I peered inside and saw the Overseer, Officer Mack and Amata. She was handcuffed to a chair in the center of the room and already bruises were forming on her face. Her bottom lip was busted and bleeding heavily. I couldn't help the gasp of shock from seeing her like this._

" _Be reasonable, Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell me where your friend is, and I'll let you go," the Overseer said calmly as though he didn't have a hand in his daughter's current physical state. She shook her head, scared._

" _I don't know! I don't know anything!" She yelled at them. I watched Officer Mack bring his baton down upon her hand. She cried out at the impact. Unfortunately, she caught my eyes in the window and shakes her head. The Overseer turned to see what she was looking at, but I ducked before I can be seen. I ignored the sounds of my best friend being tortured and crawled past the window. I made it to the Overseer's living quarters without any more trouble. I am familiar with the space since Amata and I spent plenty of time playing here while growing up._

 _Even though Amata told me… even though she warned me… I didn't think that it was true, but then I was staring at Jonas' corpse. His eyes were open and staring at the wall. A holotape was halfway out of his front left pocket, so I took it and inserted it into my Pip-Boy. There was a scratching noise then I heard my father's voice. I dropped down to the floor and close Jonas' eyes._

" _Que les dieux te soient cléments, Jonas," I whispered for the second time today. Leaning against one of the table's legs, I listened to my father's words._

" _I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. Je ne veux pas que tu me suive. The Gods know life in the Vault isn't perfect, mais au moins tu seras en sécurité." The end of the recording almost made me laugh. Almost. I took the holotape out of my Pip-Boy and gently placed it on the ground, then I stood up and proceeded to bash the defenseless item into small pieces until I was satisfied._

" _Menteur!" I yelled as I hit the holotape repeatedly. Afterwards, I walked into Amata's room and sat on her bed. I remembered the first time we kissed was in here. We were fourteen. I felt the warm burning sensation of unshed tears._

" _Que dois-je faire?" I whispered to myself. All I wanted was for someone to tell me this was all a joke. I didn't love being in the vault. Hell! I complained about being stuck in here to my father on multiple occasions, but now that I had the opportunity to leave… I found that I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay here, but I couldn't. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and dug through Amata's dresser. I found a few painkillers and a pair of sunglasses. I put them into my backpack before making my way to the Overseer's Office Terminal. I tried to hack the damn thing, but my unshed tears were blinding my vision so much that I let out a weak sound of irritation before giving up. I looked down at Jonas' corpse again and feel an overwhelming amount of rage take over me. I re-entered the hallway and marched right up to the door which I knew Amata was being tortured behind. I flipped the switch and the door opened. All three of them turned to look at me. The Overseer looked smug, but Officer Mack goes to attack me before anyone could get out a word. The Overseer doesn't try stop him and Amata was handcuffed to the chair, so she couldn't do much except kick him in the back of the leg. It's enough to send him to one knee, so I took advantage of the opening and hit him in the head until he stopped moving. Amata was shaking so hard that the handcuffs rattled. I looked up into her eyes, but she's staring behind me. I tried to turn around but freeze when I felt the cool metal of a gun pressed against the back of my head._

" _Don't move, you violent bitch," the Overseer whispered coldly. I flinched even though I have no idea what the word bitch means. It didn't sound good. Amata's eyes were as wide as bottlecaps. Her mouth had fallen open in shock, but she quickly recovered her voice._

" _Dad, please! Don't shoot her. Why are you doing this?" Amata asked desperately. I didn't understand any of this either. Why kill Jones? Why kill her? It didn't make any sense to her. Amata fought against her bonds, but all she ended up doing is hurting herself. The drops of her blood make the longest journey of their existence to the sterile metal floor. I couldn't see the Overseer's face, but I'm sure he's frowning in displeasure to her actions. He always hated when she didn't do exactly as he asked when he asked and how he asked. I heard him sigh behind me._

" _Drop the bat and sit down, Reigna," he commanded. I did as he said, and he uncuffs Amata. She moved to the first aid kit to find bandages to wrap around her wrists. I watched the Overseer closely though. He looked at me with disgust._

" _I hope that you're here to turn yourself in, but that would be asking for too much, wouldn't it?" He scoffed at his own words. I sneered at him._

" _You're the crazy one! Why did you kill Jonas? What did he do to deserve death?" I asked angrily. I could just bash his head in like the radroaches, but the gun he's holding at his hip pointing at my unprotected head makes me think otherwise. I glanced at Amata who is sitting at the furthest desk from us. She was almost done with bandaging her wrists. I turned my focus back to the Overseer._

" _I swear if you hurt her again… you won't live long enough to make that decision," I said as threateningly as possible. I heard Amata gasp. I didn't look at her though. I just continued to glare daggers at her father._

" _Are you threatening me, Reigna? After everything the vault has done for you… you have the audacity to threaten me!" His words were loud and made me want to punch him in the mouth and knock some of those perfectly white teeth out, but I couldn't do much with a pistol pointed at my head. I was livid, but I'm not stupid. Amata stood up and walked towards us._

" _Dad, just let her go. Let her leave the vault. She clearly doesn't want to be in this position. She didn't even know that her father left when I went to wake her up," Amata said calmly. My eyes stayed locked on the Overseer. He still pointed the gun at my head… the minute it wasn't…_

" _Amata, I told you to stay in your room. You only got interrogated, because we found you in the hallway. You and your friend brought this upon yourselves," he said without the smallest ounce of regret in what has happened. I saw the twitch in Amata's brow, and the brief second that the Overseer took to close his eyes is the opening that I needed. I side stepped from the line of the bullet's trajectory and hit the Overseer's wrist at a weak point so that he let go of the pistol. A small cry escaped his lips, but I didn't give him time to recover as I pushed him into the only cell in the vault. Amata let me do as I pleased since I wasn't killing her father. Once I locked him in the cell, I turned to speak with Amata, but she beat me to it._

" _You have to leave. I'm sorry for everything. I didn't know he would do any of this," she said quickly. All of my anger diminished at the sight of her wounds. I took a stimpack out of my backpack and as gently as possible injected it into her neck. Some of the bruises on her face started to fade and for that I'm thankful. She gave me a smile and grabbed one of my hands with her own. I returned her smile with one of my own although it was weak._

" _I know that you didn't want to hurt anyone. I'm sorry that things turned out this way," she whispered gently. I took in a deep breath. I heard the Overseer pounding on the cell's door and yelling all sorts of mean things. I ignored him though. He couldn't hurt anyone from there. I gave her soft hand a gentle squeeze and then let it go. She went to one of the cell's windows._

" _I will come back to deal with this matter myself, father," she said coldly. He scoffed._

" _You don't understand the gravity of the situation, Amata. Let me out this instant. Before you make a mistake that you can't ever take back," he threatened her. I turned to look at him through one of the cell's windows._

" _You shut your mouth, Overseer! Amata, will be in charge now. Clearly, you've gone mad," I said bitterly. He glared at me, and I felt the hatred coming off of him, but he didn't say another word to either of us. Instead, he went to sit on the bed in the corner. Amata took my hand and leads me back to the Overseer's office. She typed in the password and the door slid open with the familiar sound of the air pressured locks disengaging. She pointed to the lockers in the corner of the room, and I did as she silently asked of me and searched them for anything useful. I found a few more stimpacks, some ammo for the pistol she gave me and picture of her on her 18th birthday. I folded the photo and put in into a pocket of my vault suit._

" _This should do it," she whispered more to herself than to me. I heard the sound of an air pressured mechanism disengaging. When I turned around the Overseer's desk was pushed into the air by four metal columns which revealed the concrete staircase below. It's a short walk through some maintenance hallways, and there were a few radroaches wandering around, but I was able to kill them with little to no difficulty before they could hurt either of us. When it appeared as though we'd gotten to a dead end, Amata lifted a well hidden panel on the wall and pressed a glowing red button. The wall in front of us slid down, but the sound was awfully loud. That's bound to alert the remaining guards of their location. Amata pressed the necessary buttons to open the vault door and then stood near the door back into the vault. I looked at her longingly. She looked at me the same way._

" _You could come with me," I whispered although I knew that the answer will be no. It should be no. She shakes her head._

" _I have to clean up my father's mess. I'm sorry, Reigna. I'm so sorry," she said with so much regret in her voice that it cracked. I saw the tears in her eyes and went to comfort her, but I couldn't. The door behind her burst open and three guards filed through. They went to attack me, and I held up my baseball bat to defend myself. Amata yelled for them to stop, but they didn't listen._

" _Die!" One of them yelled in my face. I pushed him away from me and turned to run through the small crack of the vault door. It hadn't opened all the way, but there was already enough space for me to squeeze through. I heard them yelling after me. I didn't look back. I heard one of them though._

" _I'm not crazy enough to go out there. Seal the vault!" And so, that's the last thing I heard from the inhabitants of Vault 101 before the screeching sounds of the vault closing sealed me from them for good. I didn't run back to the vault. I knew they wouldn't let me back in, and even if they did only death would be awaiting me. I walked towards the light coming from the opposite side of the tunnel. This wasn't the first time I've seen dirt. We had small tabletop farms in the vault, but this was the first time seeing the material that the door was made of leading to what I learned to be Washington D.C. We studied a lot of things in the vault, but real world examples were rarely there to support the words on the pages. I carefully went to touch the material and surprisingly it was rough and cold. It almost felt wet._

" _Le bois," I whispered in shock. I ran my fingers against it until I felt a sharp prick of pain. I quickly drew my hand away and to my face. I inspected the wound and found a small sliver of the wood in my finger. I tried to pull it out but it was impossible with my fingers. I sucked on the wound and felt as I dislodged the small wood from my skin. I spat the piece onto the ground and glared at the wood in front of me._

" _Eh bien, maintenant je suis contente qu'il n'y ait pas de bois dans l'abri," I said plainly. I knew that the door won't take any offense to my words, but it made me feel better to say them anyway. I cracked the door open, but this time I was careful when I touched the wood. I didn't want another piece of it to get stuck in me. The crack in the door let in a blinding light, so I shut the door quickly. I pulled my backpack from my shoulders and dropped it onto the ground. I rummaged around until I found the sunglasses that I picked up in Amata's room and put them on._

" _Théoriquement, c'est supposé m'aider," I stated, hopeful. I slowly pushed the door open again, and this time the light doesn't hurt my eyes so bad. I avoided looking up at the light source as I walked along the dirt until I found myself standing on concrete. I looked at the map on my Pip-Boy and decided on going left. I follow the road to what I assumed used to be a town. We read that towns used to be normal in the Old World. They were like vaults but above ground. People would live together in communities. All the wooden structures have been destroyed to the point that I couldn't tell what they once looked like. Suddenly, I heard music. I looked down at the radar on my Pip-Boy and saw a friendly marker pop up just north of me. I risked a glance up at it as the light from before had diminished some, so that I was no longer scared to look anywhere but at the ground. There was a small hovering robot about 60 yards from me. Since it was friendly, I go to approach it. Maybe it is like Andy and can talk. Maybe it's seen my dad. The robot met me halfway, so I smiled and am about to speak to it, but it flew right past me and continued to play music from its speakers. I turned around and chased after it._

" _Hey! Hey, wait, please!" I yelled at its back. It doesn't stop. When I got close enough I touched it, but apparently it doesn't like that because it stopped playing music and turned towards me. I saw a small piece of it glow red and then it shot me. I screamed in pain as the red light burns my flesh. Thankfully, it just grazes me and the burning light sears the skin so it doesn't bleed. I ran behind what is left of a car and hoped that the robot would see that I wasn't a threat, but it didn't let up on its attack. I risked a glance around the side of the car. It was only shooting out of one spot. I counted the seconds between each shot. It took about eight seconds to recharge, so on the next shot I took a chance and ran to the nearest cover in the direction of the robot. I repeated this until I was close enough to shoot it with my gun without the risk of wasting any bullets. It took four bullets before the robot fell to the ground. I rushed over to it and hit it several times with my bat… just to make sure it wouldn't attack me again._

" _Tout essaye-t-il de me tuer maintenant?" I whispered tiredly. I checked my radar to make sure that I was really alone and was glad to see that I was. The warm light from before had completely disappeared. Now a colder blue tinted light covered everything. It was hard to see with my sunglasses, so I pushed them up onto the top of my head. I looked up at the softer light source and see a huge white circle in the distance._

" _La lune," I gasped in delight. Identical, but smaller white lights littered the sky. It was beautiful. A sudden gunshot echoed, so I ran for cover inside the skeleton of a house. I heard another gunshot and a woman screamed. I felt the adrenaline coarse through my small form. My heartbeat was a deafening sound in my ears and a painful ache in my chest. I saw something white below the pile of dirt in front of me. I heard laughter in the distance. The woman screamed again, but it sounded like they are heading away from me, so I took a chance and start digging out whatever was under the pile. It turned out to be a mattress. It's relatively clean except for the dirt left between the threads. Whoever was shooting before was either long gone or dead, because it was silent once more. I dragged the mattress to the corner of the house with the most protection and sat down on the mattress. I didn't dare turn on my Pip-Boy's light or radio. I didn't want to risk attracting attention to my location. Who knows what else is out there?_

" _Mange et dors. Mange et dors, Reign," I whispered to myself as I pulled food out of my backpack. I ate slowly, not really in the mood to masticate or swallow. When I finished eating, I buried the trash under a lot of dirt and lied flat on my back on the mattress._

And that's how I ended up here… alone… with no experience with the outside world except what I've read in books. If I am lucky I won't die in my sleep, but I was never lucky in the vault, so I doubt Lady Luck will be watching my back now. I hug my backpack to my chest and hold my pistol in one hand. If I get caught off guard at least they won't be able to say they got me completely unprepared.

"Je m'appelle Reigna Calavon. J'ai 20 ans. Je viens de l'Abri 101 où j'ai travaillé comme technicienne," I quietly repeat over and over until my throat gets too dry to continue. I stare at the stars blanky. I'm lying on a dirty mattress that I dug out from under a pile of rubble. It was nearing midnight on a Wednesday when I was finally able to escape the vault. I close my eyes, but my decisions already haunt me.

* * *

 **French - English**

Mon ange = my angel

Dis-moi, vite = Tell me, quick

Je ne veux pas t'empêcher = I don't want to get in your way

Je te jure = I swear to you

D'accord = okay

Ca va aller = it's going to be okay

Ne t'inquiète pas = don't worry

Merci = thank you

En tout cas = In any case

Tiens = Here/take it

Ferme ta gueule = shut the fuck up

Que les dieux te soient cléments = let the Gods be merciful

Je ne veux pas que te me suive = I don't want you to follow me

mais au moins tu seras en sécurité = but at least you'll be safe

Menteur = liar

Que dois-je faire = What should I do

Le bois = wood

Eh bien, maintenant je suis contente qu'il n'y ait pas de bois dans l'abri = well, now I'm glad there wasn't any wood in the vault

Théoriquement, c'est supposé m'aider = Theoretically, this is supposed to help me

tout essaye-t-il de me tuer maintenant = is everything trying to kill me now

la lune = the moon

Mange et dors = eat and sleep

Je m'appelle = my name is

J'ai 20 ans = I am 20 years old

Je viens de l'Abri 101 où j'ai travaillé comme technicienne = I'm from vault 101 where I worked as a technician


	2. My First Ghoul

Hello again! I don't own anything of the Fallout series. Happy reading! **Warning: Mentions of rape.**

 ***** Nivloc**

Normal text = present

 _Italics = past_

* * *

I'm awakened by the sound of a woman screaming. My mouth feels like I swallowed dirt the entire night, but I ignore it as the woman screams get closer. I peak out from behind the small amount of cover the skeleton of the house provides me to watch the road. I catch sight of a blonde woman running towards the town. I cower behind my cover.

"Someone! Please, help me," she yells continuously. From the same direction she came, three intimidating looking men appear on the road. They stand and survey the land. The woman is running away as fast as she can, yet they leisurely make their way over to her once she's fallen over. I can see the guns they are holding. Semi-automatic rifles… I don't stand a chance if they see me, and they don't look like the type that wanted new friends.

"Don't run now, Maisy. We wouldn't want to blow your pretty little head off," one of them says darkly. Their voice is low and rough. Maisy stopped running once she hid behind the blue object I past on my way into town. I flinch when I watch one of them backhand her in the face. The blow sends her to the ground. I hear the distinct sound of metal hitting concrete, and that's when I see the metal necklace Maisy is wearing. I duck lower behind the damaged wall protecting me from their line of sight, careful not to make any noise.

"Get away from me! Let me go! Please, someone! Help!" Maisy yells, but the echo of their hoarse laughter tells me that they aren't letting her go. I can't look away. Even though I watch a knife be drawn. Even though I hear Maisy scream and struggle against them. I can't bring myself to do anything except watch. Maisy keeps screaming, and I watch them hit her a few times, but she won't settle down. I look away to make sure that I have all of my belongings so that if they notice me I can make a run for it. I hear the sound of fabric rubbing together and sneak a glance around the side of the wall.

"Fuck," the man with red hair whispers loudly as he thrust into Maisy. I freeze. Tears were streaming down her face as they handled her roughly. The only thing coming out of Maisy's mouth now is whimpers and harsh breaths of pain. Bruises were already forming on her dirt stained skin. She didn't put up any resistance, but that was probably because of the knife one of them was pressing into her arm. I watch them use her until the very end. When each of them has finished, the one with black hair pulls the knife from her arm and tosses a roll of bandages to her. She doesn't catch them. The men all stand and joke with one another as they waited for her to finish pulling herself together. Only then was the trance broken, and I slid back into my corner.

"Putain," I whisper so quietly that I barely hear myself. I'm shaking. My throat feels impossibly drier than before. I hear them leave. They don't try to be quiet. I wait until I can't hear them to check my Pip-Boy. It was almost 14:00. I wait a little longer before moving though. The first thing I do is retrieve a water bottle from my backpack and drink the entire thing eagerly. I try to eat some food but end up abandoning the task when images of Maisy won't leave my mind. I sit on the mattress until the warm light disappears and the cool blue light of the moon replaces it. I grab another water bottle from my backpack and drink half of it. I ready myself to move. I can't stay here forever, but my legs are weak. I get onto the road and see a house that appears to be completely intact. There are cracks in the walls which allow for yellow light to leak through. I don't know how I didn't notice the house before, but it might contain those three men and Maisy. My fear prevents me from approaching the building. I quietly sneak past it and find myself in front of a larger, half destroyed building. The sign read "Springvale Middle School." I walk up to the double doors and press my face up against the glass. I can't see into the building well, so I decide to open the door. God was that a mistake if I ever made one.

"You hear that?" I hear a man whisper darkly. The entrance had been decorated with a hastily made cell and a dismembered corpse dangled above it. Its blood had stopped dripping onto the floor a long time ago, because the blood is dry and cracked. The air smelled of dust, rust and sweat.

"You go check it out. I swore I heard the front door open." Two voices argued with one another while I observed the first room. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything valuable to take.

"When I find you, I'm going to either fuck you or gut you," I hear the first man that spoke yell loudly. He sounded close, so I quickly exit the way I came in and sprint to the mattress I left back in town. Images of Maisy enter my mind, and I run even faster.

"No," I gasp out as I run, "Not me. Please, no." I make it back to the dirty mattress safely, but now I'm trembling horribly.

"Où… où?" I cry into my knees as I curl into a ball.

"Papa, où es-tu?" I whisper. Eventually, I fall asleep for the second time since I left the Vault.

When I awaken the next morning, there is no screaming or Maisy. There's nothing, but the sound of air moving around me and dragging whatever it can across the ground. The warm light isn't strong enough to burn my skin yet, so I grab my things and decide to take the second road leading out of town. I follow it for about 15 minutes before seeing a sign with yellow paint. I approach it cautiously.

"Megaton," I pronounce the weird name easily once I am close enough and make my way down the beaten path. The large metal structure is hard to miss, but I don't see a door to get inside. There is a man smoking a cigarette outside with the same rifle as those three men who took Maisy. I duck behind the nearest boulder and clutch my bat to my chest.

"Hey, lady!" The man yells. I don't move. Maybe he'll think I ran away.

"Bonne idée, Reign," I scold myself. I hear footsteps approach me slowly. I hold my breath and send a silent prayer to the Gods.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I hear a voice right above my head. I let out a weak scream and swing my bat to hit the man in the face, but he dodges the blow effortlessly. I stare at him with wide eyes, expecting to feel the pain of being shot erupt somewhere on my body, but it never comes. He holds both of his hands up as a sign of peace. I don't lower my bat though.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. The name is Crazy Wolfgang. What about you, dollface? What do they call you?" He says with a friendly tone. He keeps his hands up, so I slowly lower my bat and respond.

"I am Reigna Calavon," I state. He lets his blue eyes roam over me, and I fidget under his gaze.

"Well, nice to meet you. Fancy name you got there," he says with an easy smile as he drops his hands to his sides. His relaxed demeanor helps me relax, but I know better than to let my guard down completely.

"Crazy is a unique name as well," I respond. He lets out a loud laugh, and it reminds me of the three men with Maisy. It's effortless and wholehearted. It seems to shake the air around me. I flinch at the noise. He catches it and stops laughing.

"What's got you so spooked? You see a deathclaw?" He asks as his eyes scan the horizon. I raise my bat in response to his actions.

"What's that?" I whisper. One of his eyebrows raise in question. He turns his back to me and starts to walk towards the giant metal mass known as Megaton.

"Look, let's talk inside the walls. It seems to me like you don't know too much about the glorious Capital Wasteland, dollface," he says over his shoulder. I keep my bat close and follow him deciding that at the first sound of trouble to run back to the mattress in town. There is an older robot standing close to the metal mass and a sniper on a small balcony above us. Crazy greets him with a wave and a warm smile. The man disappears from our line of sight, and this awfully loud sound starts to come from above us. I squat down in panic and clutch my bat to my stomach until I feel a hand on my shoulder. My wide eyes lock with Crazy's calm ones. He holds out his other hand as a gesture to help me stand. I don't know why I trust him, but I do and stand slowly taking his hand. He points at a large turbine located just below the man that he had waved to earlier. It was spinning so quickly that I couldn't keep up with it.

"It opens the gates. Don't worry, dollface," Crazy yells over the noise. I just nod my head in disbelief. When the gates have opened enough, we enter a large room with what appears to be no way into Megaton.  
"This is Megaton?" I ask in disbelief as I eye the random furniture shoved to the sides of the walls. It didn't look like much and no one was here. Crazy lets out another unrestrained laugh, and I flinch in response. He quietly apologizes for startling me.

"No. No. This is just the grand entrance. Come on, follow me. You'll see," he speaks easily. He pushes on the metal wall in front of us which turns out to be a large door. He makes enough room for us to walk through and then closes it behind us. I couldn't have been more wrong. Megaton is huge! There are metal houses and people everywhere. I hear the sounds of people talking, laughing and children playing. If it wasn't for the fact that everything was rather colorless, I would've called the town beautiful.

"This is Megaton," Crazy announces proudly. I turn to look at him with wide eyes and a smile.

"Do you live here?" I demand. He lets out a weak laugh and shakes his head.

"No, I just trade here. I'm a travelling merchant, you see," he tells me. I nod my head. It's my first time hearing the job but from the title it sounds like he travels and sells things, so I don't ask him about it. I didn't want to appear any more clueless than he already thinks I am. A man in a hat and trenchcoat ensemble is walking towards us with a smile on his face, but his dark eyes tell me that he's all business.

"Crazy! You found us another newcomer?" He asks as soon as he's close enough. I eye him nervously. One wrong move and you run, I think to myself. Crazy puts up his hands like he did before and shrugs.

"Luckily, I caught this one before someone else did," he says jokingly, but I knew what he was referring to already. An image of Maisy and the three men pop into my head. The man in the hat approaches me and sticks out a hand. I hold my bat in my left hand and grab his hand in my own smaller one to shake.

"Names Lucas Simms, town sheriff. And mayor too, when the need arises. What do they call you, girl?" He asks warmly when he realizes I'm not a danger to the town.

"I am Reigna Calavon, Mr. Simms," I state. Lucas gives me a smile.

"Well, I don't know why, but I like you, Miss Calavon. Something tells me you're all right. So welcome to Megaton! Let me know if you need something," he drawls. The words feel rehearsed, but I don't mention it. I just nod my head in agreement.

"I'm going to show her around, sheriff. Looks like she needs some help with something," Crazy says casually. Mr. Simms raises an eyebrow in question, but Crazy waves him off.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Dollface, here, just needs some supplies. I'm going to show her to Moira's," Crazy says. Mr. Simms nods his head.

"Alright, see you two around," he says before walking away. Crazy offers me his hand once he is gone.

"Milady," he says in a weird accent. I give him a questioning look but take his hand anyway. He leads me around town and tells me what every house is. Apparently, not all of the structures are homes, some of them are stores or facilities. We pass by a few leaking pipes, and I stop Crazy by tugging on his hand. He stops and turns around to ask me, but I just jerk a thumb at the leaking pipes.

"I can fix this," I state casually. He lets out another carefree laugh, but this time I am expecting it and don't flinch. He nods his head in approval, so I get to work on fixing all the leaking pipes that we pass. By the time we end up in front of Craterside Supply the warm light is almost blinding me even with my sunglasses on.

"This light is too bright and too hot," I tell Crazy. He chuckles and pats my head softly.

"You'll get used to the sun, dollface. But until then I suggest that you don't stay in it too long," he says with humor in his voice. I give him a confused look and then remember my readings about the infamous sun. I mentally go through everything that I know about the sun and am about to look up at it, but Crazy puts a hand on my head to stop me.

"Never look at the sun, kid," he scolds me. I give him an impish smile and shrug.

"Curious," I whisper to him. He laughs and opens the door to Craterside Supply.  
"After you, milady," he says in that weird accent again. I enter the store and am immediately engulfed in the scent of burning plastic and hot metal. The air is thicker inside than outside, and I find myself disliking it… a lot. The first thing that I see is a man about a foot taller than me leaning against the side of the wall by a doorway, then I notice a woman with red hair and skin paler than my own at a workbench on the opposite side of him. She hears the door close behind Crazy and drops whatever she is doing to greet us.

"Hey! I hear you're that stray from Vault 101. I haven't seen one of you for years!" She says while wiping her hands on her overalls. She shakes my hand and pulls Crazy in for a hug. I'm silently glad she didn't hug me. The man doesn't move, and the semi-automatic weapon and hard stare tells me that he's not going to unless he has to.

"Wolfgang! Lovely surprise. Although, I swear you were just here," she says loudly. Well, actually, the woman just seemed to like to say everything loudly. She barely lets us get in a word. Chatterbox. That's what Amata would call her. A loud chatterbox. She turns back to me abruptly after finishing her rather one-sided conversation with Crazy. The smile on her face widens.

"Where are my manners! Good to meet you, dearie. I'm Moira Brown, and this is Craterside Supply," she states while gesturing to the space around us. I nod my head to show her that I understand. She doesn't seem to mind my lack of words though and keeps on talking.

"I mostly tinker and do research, but every once in awhile people like Wolfgang come in to trade with me," she says happily. She pauses, and Crazy is about to speak, but she beats him to it. She quickly grabs me by my shoulders, and I go to push her away, but now her face is directly in front of mine. She's overwhelming to say the least.

"Say, I'm working on a book. About the Capital Wasteland. Well, it's more like a guide to surviving here. It'd be great to have the foreword by a former vault dweller. What do you say?" She speaks quickly like she can't get the words out fast enough. I smell something oddly sweet on her breath and just nod my head in agreement.

"Alright," I say timidly. Crazy gives me a sympathetic smile and goes to check out her merchandise on the counter. Moira steps back out of my personal space and smiles so wide that I think her face will crack.

"Great! Just tell me what it's like to live underground all your life, or to come outside for the first time, or whatever strikes your fancy! All of the above maybe?" She says. I take a deep breath before speaking, and I'm surprised that she doesn't interrupt me.

"Well, I read a lot, so I know about a lot of the new things that I am seeing, but these books were written before the Great War. A lot of things have changed since then obviously. My body is also very sensitive to the sun and pain that I don't believe others who have grown up Outside would worry about," I tell her. Her face never loses its childlike fascination, but this close I can see the wrinkles on her face.

"That's so interesting," she drawls. She moves behind the counter, mumbling to herself and comes back with a vault 101 suit with some pieces of leather well sewn on.

"Maybe this Armored Vault Suit will help you out there, huh?" She says while holding it up to my shoulders. When I try it on though, it's too big. Moira frowns and snaps her fingers with a smile. She approaches me and pushes me into the back room of the store.

"Take this suit off, and I'll improve upon it while you explore the rest of town," she says happily. I give her a disbelieving look, but she ignores it and continues humming happily. Once I'm standing in only my undergarments she takes my vault suit to the main room and comes back with a pair of gray cargo pants and faded red tank top. I put Butch's Tunnel Snake jacket over it and feel a little better to be wearing something not so skintight. Especially, since everyone wasn't wearing vault suits Outside. Moira looks me over and nods her head satisfied with my appearance.

"Parfait!" She yells. I'm startled not by her volume but by the word. She continues to smile at me until she decides to turn around and go work on my vault suit. I shake off the feeling as me hearing her wrong. I walk back into the main room and Crazy walks over to me with a smile on his face.

"I like the new look, dollface," he tells me. I can't help the small blush that appears on my cheeks at his words. I mumble a thanks as I turn to leave. Crazy and I are just about to exit the store when I hear her shout:

"A bientôt!" My head whips around to look at her, and Crazy is giving me a questioning gaze as is Moira's bodyguard.

"A plus tard," I eventually say back. Moira slowly turns her head to make eye contact. I see the surprise and acknowledgement in her gaze. It feels like minutes, but it was probably only mere seconds before Crazy's hand come down on my shoulder to gently shake me out of the trance. We leave without another word, but I catch the wink Moira throws my way at the last second.

"Is Moira from a vault?" I ask without meaning to once the door is shut. The sun is still too bright for my eyes, so I put my sunglasses back on. Crazy shakes his head.

"No, she grew up at Little Lamplight, but instead of making it to Big Town she ended up in Megaton. I'm sure she'll tell you about it if you ask her," Crazy says.

"Oh. Thank you," I tell him. He just nods his head and gives me a crooked smile. Crazy leads us to probably the largest building in town. A sign above the door reads, "Moriarty's Saloon." Looks friendly enough. Crazy opens the door and follows in after me. The place smells of bodily fluids, heat and spilled alcohol. I hated it already. The scent makes me want to gag, but Crazy doesn't seem to even notice. He sits down at the bar and pats the seat next to him when he realizes that I'm still at the door staring at a man stumbling out of what appears to be the bathroom. I robotically do as he asks of me and try not to touch anything. I'm looking down at the counter until I hear someone talking to me. Their voice is rough like sandpaper and distinctly male. I look up to tell them that I really don't want anything, but the words get stuck in my mouth. My mouth hangs open slightly and my fingers grab tightly onto the stool I'm sitting on. I freeze. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life, and I can't seem to make myself move. Then he speaks again.

"Hey smoothskin, do you need something? A drink, maybe?" The horribly injured man asks me. His brow muscles are drawn together in worry, and he shoots a glance at Crazy. Crazy just holds up his hand as a sign for him to wait, so he does. I stare at him until I hear the door open behind me. It makes me jump in my seat and nearly fall over if not for Crazy's arm shooting out to catch me.

"Play it cool, dollface. Be cool," he whispers close to my ear. I nod my head and lick my lips to try and dissolve the look off my face, but I know it's too late to take back my response to the man's appearance.

"I'm Reigna Calavon, and you are?" I ask weakly to the man behind the counter. His brow muscles raise in question. He gives Crazy a strange look, but Crazy shrugs his shoulders and nurses his beer.

"It's Gobtholemew, smoothskin. But, just call me Gob," he says quickly. I nod my head in acknowledgement.

"I apologize about before. I didn't mean to offend you, Gob," I say hoping that he didn't take offense to my initial reaction. I've never seen such extensive wounds before. I half wish I still had my vault suit on… like it could easily explain my ignorance, but perhaps I am better off without it. If this is the world that I am to come to live in, then I should get used to addressing my actions as they are and not making lame excuses.

"Not a problem, smoothskin. Hospitality here towards ghouls isn't really common, so don't worry about it. Where you from anyway? You never seen a ghoul before?" He asks amiably although I can hear the nervousness in his voice. Scared to cross the line. Scared that I'll change my mind, but Gob doesn't seem like a bad guy, so I don't hold his appearance against him.

"A vault, unfortunately," I say lamely. As if that'll explain everything to him. He gives me a knowing smile.

"Switching out your vault suit is a smart move, smoothskin. My advice is you get a good gun, too. If you plan on quitting town that is…" he says carefully. I nod my head to acknowledge his words. Gob leaves me to get back to work but not before setting down a glass of vodka.

"Welcome to Megaton, Reigna," he says. I give him a genuine smile before turning my gaze down to the beverage. I wasn't a big fan of drinking ever since the time Amata and I got so drunk we threw up in the hallway. The Overseer had been so upset.

 _"Riri, stop it," Amata giggles and pushes me away. I bring the water bottle half full of vodka to my lips. I grin and wink at her in response. She scoffs._

 _"I don't like Freddie. Stop saying that," she whispers the last part. I wiggle my eyebrows at her expertly. She laughs loudly, and I clap a hand over her mouth and shush her._

 _"Shhh, someone will hear us," I whisper. She gives me a weak glare._

 _"Yeah, right. Like who? My dad?" She asks me with sarcasm dripping from her lips. I give her a "yeah-exactly" look, but she waves it away with one hand and take a long sip from the water bottle._

 _"Yeah. Sure," she says but bites her tongue._

 _"Aïe," she screams. I can't help it when both of my eyebrows rise to mock her._

 _"Come on. Let's go to the bathroom and clean this up," I say to her. She nods her head and follows me into the hallway. I didn't see her take the water bottle. I didn't see her take a long sip. It must have burned her tongue pretty bad, because I hear her spit the vodka out and turn around to see her dry heaving. I carefully move to be behind her so that I can hold her hair back. She throws up twice on the way to the bathroom. We manage to clean up her wound, but on the way back to her room I take a swig of the vodka and feel a chunk of her throw up in my mouth. I gag three times before throwing up right next to where she had thrown up. She laughs at me weakly and doesn't hold my hair. When I'm done I glare at her._

 _"That was so gross," I whisper to her. She starts laughing weakly and eventually we are both laughing so hard that we don't notice the Overseer come around the corner._

 _"Amata… What is this?" He yells at us. We both look at each other and shrug and laugh harder._

 _"We'll take care of it," we tell him simultaneously._

He didn't get over it for months. Amata and I could only hang out in the common spaces from that point on. We also were assigned more chore duties around the vault. My father was mad too, but luckily he didn't punish me on top of that.

Eventually, Gob returns to talk to me and Crazy. Between the both of them, I think that I understand ghouls a lot better now. I feel more confident with this newfound information. Gob looks appreciative that I hear him out and promise to deliver a letter to his adoptive mother in Underworld. I'm upfront and tell him that I don't know for sure when I'll get to that part of the Capital Wasteland, but Gob assures me that I'll get it to Underworld sooner than he ever could.

"Hey, dollface. I'm going to grab some dinner. Do you want to join me?" I look up at Crazy and smile. He has a calloused hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. I nod my head and move to get off the stool when the sound of a door opening makes Gob quickly move into the saloon's storage room. I watch him, but he won't make eye contact. I feel Crazy try to get me to leave the saloon before I can see why, but I refuse to move. I stand by the stool that I was sitting on only seconds before and wait for whatever or whoever it was to appear. Crazy moves close to my ear.

"Moriarty," is the only word that he whispers and then I remember the name of the saloon. A middle-aged man makes his way down the stairs. He's got long gray hair, a beard and blue eyes. I'm starting to wonder if everyone has blue eyes in the Capital Wasteland. He walks with confidence that I have only ever seen on the Overseer. Thinks he owns everyone in here, I sneer in my head. My fists clench at my sides and I feel Crazy take one of my hands in his and pull me out the front door.

"What are you doing, corpse?" I see Moriarty yell at Gob before the door shuts behind Crazy. Once we are Outside. I turn to Crazy.

"Is that how people normally treat ghouls?" I ask him hoping to hear a negative response. He just shrugs his shoulder and avoids looking into my eyes. He leads me down to the Brass Lantern while listening to me rant about how Moriarty's behavior was unacceptable. Before we enter the Brass Lantern, Crazy pulls me to the side of the door so others can pass us.

"Listen, dollface. It sounds like you got a reasonable head on your shoulders, so listen to me when I say: let it go. Okay?" He whispers low, but the words aren't a treat. His eyes are full of worry. Nobody seems to pay us any mind. Like secret discussions in public were a common occurrence. The frown on my face is so deeply set that it almost hurts.

"No," I whisper right in his face before walking around him and into the Brass Lantern.

* * *

 **French - English**

Putain = Fuck

Où = where

papa = Dad

où es-tu = where are you

Bonne idée = good idea

parfait = perfect

à bientôt = see you soon

à plus tard = see you later


End file.
